Religion and the Media

Religion in the media is a big issue. There are hundreds of programs on television that focus on religion. There are different kinds of shows. Shows like “Heaven and Earth show”, are magazine type programs, which are chat show type programs, which consist of a panel of different religious people. The show addresses issues such as abortion and wikka, or witchcraft. Another type of show is “The Big Questions”. This is another chat show with a more formal approach to its issues. It also consists of a panel. The show brings questions such as “Does prison work?” and “Do we over consume?” “The story of God” is a religious documentary. This show doesn’t have a panel, but it addresses questions such as “Who, or what is god?” and “How can we be in a relationship with god?”

Coronation Street showed a teenage girl, Tina, discovering she was pregnant with a teenage boy, David Platt’s baby. The pregnancy was unplanned as they had only been together for a few months and neither of them was prepared to have a baby, or be parents. Tina confided in David’s mum, Gail, that she was pregnant, although she hadn’t told David. She needed support and advice off a responsible person other than her mother, as she thought her mother would disapprove of the pregnancy. Gail thought that it would be best to terminate Tina’s pregnancy, as Tina and David were both too young to have a baby and she felt David was unstable after numerous years of traumatic events. Tina accepted her advice, and went through with the termination, as she didn’t feel that she was responsible or old enough to be a parent. Gail didn’t put pressure on Tina to have a termination, nor did she give her any reason to go through with the pregnancy. Gail spoke to a clinic about a termination, made an appointment, and offered to pay for a private service, rather than wait several weeks on the National Health Service. Tina agreed to have the termination and also agreed to keep it a secret, from David. However David later discovered about the termination and was incredibly angry and upset firstly because it had been kept a secret and he had no say in the decision of his Childs life and because Gail had considered getting David aborted during her own pregnancy. This dilemma showed David as being extremely upset mainly by the fact that his girlfriend and mother, perhaps his worst enemy, kept the termination a secret from him, rather than telling him and not giving him any choice in the final decision.